Microsoft Pink phone reportedly exists, coming to Verizon

A few details regarding the long-rumored Microsoft-branded phone have been …

Pink, the long rumored Microsoft-branded (but not Microsoft-manufactured) phone(s) that features premium mobile services (think Zune) and has also been referred to as Zune phone, is all but officially confirmed now, thanks to leaked third-party marketing materials obtained by Gizmodo. Microsoft did not announce anything regarding the device when it showed off Windows Phone 7 Series, but these documents lay out a promotional plan for Pink in detail, and while they don't talk about specs or software details, they do shed some light on the upcoming mobile phone.

Just as rumored in September 2009, Pink will arrive on Verizon. Furthermore, Verizon is a launch partner for Pink (a joint Microsoft/Verizon launch is possible), and while exclusivity is likely, another carrier isn't completely out of the question. Previous rumors talked about a codenamed Turtle and a codenamed Pure, but only the former is mentioned in the documents. Turtle (pictured above), is reportedly "squircle" in shape, and includes a microphone at the bottom of its slide-out keyboard, which is meant to be open when being used as a phone. Last but not least, social networking will play a big part on the phone, just as with Windows Phone 7 Series.

Remember the analyst who said earlier this year that a Zune Phone was coming soon? She predicted it would arrive this month, would have 720p HD video capabilities, at least a 5MP camera, and that it would run Windows Mobile 7.0. She also claimed that the next version of Microsoft's mobile OS would include premium mobile services, including a Zune video store and music subscription and purchasing services, an interface similar to the Zune HD UI, and could include social networking apps like Xbox Live, Facebook, and Twitter. She got the details about Windows Mobile 7.0 pretty darn close, so now let's see if she gets the Pink parts correct.

Gizmodo, however, says that it doesn't look like it has Windows Mobile 7.0 on it for two reasons: the interface looks different and Turtle doesn't look like it has the minimum hardware requirements to be part of the Windows Phone 7 Series. We're not so quick to rule out Windows Mobile 7.0 as Pink's mobile OS. Firstly, we've heard before that Pink would be built on top of Windows Mobile 7.0. Secondly, we still don't know the specs for the third chassis, so it's entirely possible that Turtle has those requirements and can still be under the Windows Phone 7 Series branding. It would be a huge shame—not to mention very stupid—if Microsoft decided its own phone wasn't a Windows Phone 7 device.

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